w6csn’s outdoor amateur radio

Muir Woods is named after naturalist John Muir who can be said to be the father of our National Parks in the US. This park is not far from my home in San Francisco, but has eluded me from activating for several years. The main attraction at Muir Woods are the giant redwood trees accessible from the visitor center, which apparently are very popular, necessitating parking reservations.

The part of Muir Woods frequented by visitors is down in a deep ravine on the southern flank of Mt. Tamalpais, which I suspect would make it a challenge to get a QRP signal out of. Besides, I could not reasonably expect even to set up a POTA station within the main park area. However the boundaries of the National Monument extend far up the slopes of Mount Tam.

In order to have a chance of getting out I figured I would have to get as much elevation as possible. There is access to the westernmost point of the national park boundary not far from the Pantoll Ranger Station in Mt. Tamalpais State Park and well up the mountainside.

It’s a half mile walk over a slight descent from Pantoll to Cardiac Hill along the Old Mine trail. And from the junction at Cardiac Hill, just a short walk along the Dipsea trail takes you back under the forest canopy and within the boundary of Muir Woods.

Despite offering elevation, Mt. Tam seems to be where QRP signals go to die. Of the numerous times I’ve activated from the sides of this mountain, I’ve never had an easy go of it. This activation was no different. It took an hour and a half of calling and hunting to get the 10 QSOs needed for a complete POTA activation. Even then, finishing just minutes before the 00UTC alligator could bite.

I used the KH1 in pedestrian mobile configuration while standing just off to the side of the Dipsea trail. The use of the whip antenna wasn’t delivering a booming signal. I got reports ranging from 229 to 559, when I could make contact at all. Some stations I thought should be able to hear me simply could not.

N9OHW came through in the last moments to give me number 10, whew that was close! And while I love being on Mt. Tam, I really wanted to knock out Muir Woods on the first try.

Thanks to all my radio friends, both regulars and new call signs, for digging my peanut whistle signal out of the noise and helping me activate Muir Woods National Monument US-0949.

72 de W6CSN